Thursday, January 16, 2014

-- Pierria Henry knew exactly what he was doing as he was scoring the 49ers' final six points of regulation on three consecutive layups.
As he penetrated on each of those three final possessions, he knew Denzel Ingram, Terrence Williams, Ben Cherry and Shawn Lester were spotted up on the perimeter. If a Tulsa defense collapsed on Henry, he could kick it out to one of them. But that never happened. Golden Hurricane defenders allowed Henry a seam to the basket and he took advantage each time.

-- The 49ers have become a very dangerous 3-point shooting team. Ingram was 5 of 6 and Cherry 2 of 4 against Tulsa, so they both continue to be at or above the 50 percent mark for the season. It's a weapon the 49ers haven't had in recent seasons.

-- That said, the 49ers were nearly undone by their on-ball defense and some highly shaky free-throw shooting. Tulsa's guards were much quicker than Charlotte's and got to the basket all night. And the 49ers were just 22-of-42 from the free throw line. That mark got better as the game progressed (Charlotte was four of 12 at halftime), but it nearly cost them the game.

-- Henry's line: 18 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals. He had six turnovers, however, many of them on forced passes inside.

-- The victory moved Charlotte (11-5, 2-1) into a second-place tie in C-USA with five other teams. Next up is North Texas (10-7, 1-2) Saturday at Halton.